The Productivity Paradox and the New Economy: The Spanish Case

This paper studies the impact of the information and communication technologies (ICT) on economic growth in Spain using a dynamic general equilibrium approach. Contrary to previous works, we use a production function with six different capital inputs, three of them corresponding to ICT assets. Calibration of the model suggests that the contribution of ICT to Spanish productivity growth is very relevant, whereas the contribution of non-ICT capital has been even negative. Additionally, over the sample period 1995-2002, we find a negative TFP and productivity growth. These results together aim at the hypothesis that the Spanish economy could be placed within the productivity paradox.New economy, information and communication technologies, technological change, productivity paradox.

ICT-specific technological change and productivity growth in the US 1980-2004

This paper studies the impact of the information and communication technologies (ICT) on U.S. economic growth using a dynamic general equilibrium approach. We use a production function with six different capital inputs, three of them corresponding to ICT assets and other three to non-ICT assets. We find that the technological change embedded in hardware equipment is the main leading non-neutral force of the U.S. productivity growth and accounts for about one quarter of it during the period 1980-2004. As a whole, ICT-specific technological change accounts for about 35% of total labor productivity growth.New economy, information and communication technologies, specific-technological change, neutral-technological change.

Following the yellow brick road? The Euro, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland.

This paper uses a combination of VAR and bootstrapping techniques to analyze whether the exchange rates of some New Member States of the EU have been used as output stabilizers (those of the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland), during 1993-2004. This question is important because it provides a prior evaluation on the costs and benefits involved in entering the European Monetary Union (EMU). Joining the EMU is not optional for these countries but mandatory, although there is no definite deadline. Therefore, if the exchange rate works as a shock absorber, monetary independence could be retained for a longer period. Our main finding is that the exchange rate could be a stabilizing tool in Poland and the Czech Republic, although in Hungary it appears to act as a propagator of shocks. In addition, in these three countries, demand and monetary shocks account for most of the variability in both nominal and real exchange rates.EMU, exchange rate, Structural VAR, stationary bootstraps.

Technological sources of productivity growth in Japan, the U.S. and Germany

In this paper, we use a dynamic general equilibrium growth model to quantify the contribution of different technological sources to productivity growth in the three leading economies: Germany, Japan, and the U.S. The sources of technology are classified as representing either neutral progress or investment-specific progress. The latter can be split into two different types of equipment: information and communication technologies (ICT) and non-ICT equipment. We find that in the long run, neutral technological change is the main source of productivity growth in Germany. For Japan and the U.S., the main source of productivity growth is investment-specific technological change, mainly associated with ICT. We also find that a non negligible part of productivity growth has been due to technology specific to non-ICT equipment; this is mainly true after 1995.Productivity growth; Investment-specific progress; Neutral progress; Information and communication technology.

Are Americans' musical preferences more omnivores today?

Although we found a general trend favouring the omnivorousness thesis, as soon as we adjusted it to a set of structural factors and consumers’ tastes it was clear that this was caused by elitist inclusive omnivores who had increased the scope of their tastes. In general, younger cohorts were becoming less omnivorous, nevertheless, they were also becoming more educated and had greater to higher levels of inc ome, making the youth more omnivorous. As expected, upscale consumers set limits on their popular taste: musical genres, whose audiences had educational levels below the mean profile were less preferred by upscale respondents. In spite of this, as time passed, some popular brows gained social status.Symbolic consumer research, musical tastes, omnivorousness, correspondence analysis of matched matrices

Absolute dimensions of the G7+K7 eclipsing binary star IM Virginis: Discrepancies with stellar evolution models

We report extensive spectroscopic and differential photometric BVRI observations of the active, detached, 1.309-day double-lined eclipsing binary IM Vir, composed of a G7-type primary and a K7 secondary. With these observations we derive accurate absolute masses and radii of M(1) = 0.981 +/- 0.012 M(Sun), M(2) = 0.6644 +/- 0.0048 M(Sun), R(1) = 1.061 +/- 0.016 R(Sun), and R(2) = 0.681 +/- 0.013 R(Sun) for the primary and secondary, with relative errors under 2%. The effective temperatures are 5570 +/- 100 K and 4250 +/- 130 K. The significant difference in mass makes this a favorable case for comparison with stellar evolution theory. We find that both stars are larger than the models predict, by 3.7% for the primary and 7.5% for the secondary, as well as cooler than expected, by 100 K and 150 K, respectively. These discrepancies are in line with previously reported differences in low-mass stars, and are believed to be caused by chromospheric activity, which is not accounted for in current models. The effect is not confined to low-mass stars: the rapidly-rotating primary of IM Vir joins the growing list of objects of near-solar mass (but still with convective envelopes) that show similar anomalies. The comparison with the models suggests an age of 2.4 Gyr for the system, and a metallicity [Fe/H] of approximately -0.3 that is consistent with other indications, but requires confirmation.Comment: 14 pages, 13 figures. Accepted for publication in Ap

“Need to know” and the right temporal lobe: Impaired access to semantic knowledge in acquired obsessive-compulsive disorder?

Introduction : Idiopathic obsessive-compulsive disorder (I-OCD) has been linked to abnormalities in corticostriatal circuits. Few studies have examined if the same structures are also responsible of acquired OCD (A-OCD) or if damage to anatomically-connected brain regions (e.g., temporal lobes) are also implicated in its pathogenesis. Additionally, there are some discrete obsessive-compulsive (OC) symptoms that by virtue of their presumed low occurrence and difficultly of categorization have received less attention. Amongst these, one intriguing and potentially severe type of obsessive thinking is the so-called “need to know” (NtK), a strong drive to know and obtain given information. In some patients this specific symptom, presumably resulting from impaired access to conceptual knowledge for specific verbal information (proper names, names of places), may be the principal or major feature of OCD symptomatology. We here report the cases of two male patients who developed “NtK” as the only OC symptomatology in association with malignant neoplasms involving the right temporal lobe and connected corticostriatal circuits. Methods : We used Tractotron and Disconnectome map softwares in order to identify the regions of white matter damage overlap across both patients and the proportion of damage (lesion load) of each tract of interest for each patient. We quantified the severity of the disconnection by measuring the proportion of each tract of interest to be affected by each patient´s lesion by using Tractotron software. Additionally, Positron Emission Tomography was used in order to study metabolic abnormalities. The tracts of interest were: the uncinate fasciculus, the anterior commissure, the anterior thalamic radiations, the inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus and the inferior longitudinal fasciculus. Results : There was a high overlap across brain lesions in patients 1 and 2. There was also a high overlap between areas that were affected (disconnected) due to the lesion. As expected, all the a priori selected pathways in the right hemisphere were affected since they cross the anterior part of the temporal lobe. Disconnection maps and metabolic changes in our patients suggest that the expression of OC symptoms underpinned by a semantic deficit due to right temporal damage is secondary to involvement of the uncinate fasciculus linking the temporal pole with the orbitofrontal cortex. Discussion : Data from the present study concur with previous research on A-OCD and current findings in I-OCD which suggest that the temporal lobes participate in the phenomenological expression of OCD. Also, patients with lesions in the anterior temporal lobe are prone to show a specific “Need to Know” symptoms phenomenologically similar to patients with semantic dementia in later stages. The expression of OC symptoms underpinned by a semantic deficit because of anterior right temporal lobe lesion, are due to a disconnection of the uncinate fasciculus and the orbitofrontal cortex. Further research about the neurological underpinnings of specific OCD subtypes, its evaluation and treatment, are essential. References : Berthier ML et al. Neurology. (1996) 47: 353–61. Huey E et al. J Neuropsych Clin Neurosci (2008). 20(4):390-408 Keywords : Emotions & Social Cognition; patients; single case study; adults; psychiatric; lesion mapping, behavioural.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech